Cigar-box.



Patented Jan. 23. I900.

No. 64l,757.

M. BLASKUWER.

CIGAR BOX.

(Application filed June 15, 1899.)

(No Modal.)

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NrTsn STATES PATENT Trice.

MARKS BLASKOWER, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

CIGAR-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 641,757, dated January 23, 1900.

Application filed June 15, 1899. Serial No. 720,642. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MARKS BLASKOWER, a citizen of the United States of America, re siding in the city and county of San Francisco, in the State of California, have invented an Improvement in Cigar-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

The object sought to be attained by this invention is mainly to produce a cigar-box of wood and sheet metal as an improved article of manufacture that shall have all the desirable qualities and properties of the Wooden cigar-box and shall possess in addition thereto by reason of its structure several qualities and features of advantage over the cigar-box made wholly of wood.

Cigar-manufacturers and those persons who are practically acquainted with the characteristics and peculiar properties of tobacco and its products are well aware that from the time of their manufacture to their consumption by the smoker cigars are extremely sensitive to climatic influences, and espe cially are they affected by varying conditions of moistness and dryness in the atmosphere to such a degree that they deteriorate in flavor and aroma and in smoking qualities after a time after exposure to a moist climate on the one hand or to a dry climate on the other. Cigars of all grades, and particularly those of the finer grades, are found to suffer more or less loss or reduction in commercial value after a period 'of exposure to such changes or influences of climate while packed in the well-known box of cedar-wood, as demanded by the trade. The practice of packing cigars in cedar-wood demanded by the trade is based on the fact that the Spanish cedar by reason of its porousness and its aromatic qualities is found to produce in or impart to the manufactured cigar certain peculiar and delicate aromas and flavors and also to retain a certain moist condition in the tobacco that no other kind of wood otherwise available and suitable for the construction of boxes has been found to do; but with these peculiar properties and advantages over cigar-boxes made of other woods and other material the cigar-box of cedar-wood is found defective in other respects and to such an extent that it is practically unsuitable as a package for export and trade abroad between countries in the temperate Zone and those in warmer regions-=as, for example, in packing cigars for export from the United States to the Hawaiian Islands or to the Eastern Archipelagoes, China, and the countries near the Equator-and to a certain extent the same cedar-wood package is likewise defective in preserving cigars from the extremes of dryness and moistness existing between lower and higher altitudes in this country. A cigarbox, therefore, that will possess all the desirable properties of the cedar-Wood box and at the same time will have the qualities of protecting the cigar from the influences of moist climates and dry climates and the varying conditions of temperature to which the con= tents are necessarily exposed in transportation and in the course of trade between the United States and warmer countries may be said to be a desideratum in the cigar industry of this country. To this end and object I propose to construct a sheet-metal and cedar-wood box substantially after the manner herein described and shown.

Figure 1 of the annexed drawings herein referred to is a view in perspective of a cigarbox embodying my invention and showing portions of the box broken away to disclose the structure more plainly. Fig. 2 is an elevation, partly in longitudinal section, illus-' trating one mode of hermetically closing the joints between the. body of the box and its lid. Fig. 3 is a section through the hinge of the box with the lid partly raised.

This improved cigar-box is constructed with an exterior sheet-metal surface and an interior lining or facing of Spanish cedar in such manner that the box has a lining or facing of cedar-wood interposed between the metal surfaces and the contents. The wooden sides and ends a ab 12 are united to the metal sides and ends A A B B by turning over the topedge of the metal and bending it down closely on the inside of the box, so as to clamp and confine the wood immovably in place, and afterward the wooden facing g for the bottom is inserted and pressed down to place upon the metal bottom G, thus confining the sides and ends in perpendicular po sition, as represented in Fig. 2. The wooden facing c for the lid C may be similarly confined by means of metal strips f, either se= when packed in numbers in a crate or ease.

cured to or formed from the material of the lid itself and of proper width to turn over the edges of the wood and be pressed against its inner face.

A tight joint is obtained between the lid and the body of the box by forming a perpendicular flange or rim d on the edge of the lid and at right angles to its face, so as to fit down closely around the top edge of the box or into a rabbet R in the metal covering forced closely into a rabbet formed in the wooden body around its upper edge. After the lid is closed a strip of paper or some suitable material is to be pasted over the joint all around the box. In another way a hermetically-sealed joint is made by soldering a narrow ribbon e, of soft sheet metal, over the joint all around the box, the ribbon to be easily stripped off when the box is to be opened by seizing one end of the ribbon left for that purpose and pulling it away from the joints, for which purpose the ribbon is soldered only along the top and bottom edges, or by cutting through this ribbon with a penknife on the line of the joint the lid can be readily detached and the box opened.

A cigar-box thus produced will have many qualities and advantages not possessed by the wooden cigar-box now used by the trade. It will be impervious to moisture and the influences of climate on the one hand and will retain the necessary condition of moistness in the tobacco on the other hand without allowing any deterioration in that condition. After the box is sealed it will withstand the hardships incident to transportation without danger of being broken or loosened at the joints It will retain its contents in uniform condition without their drying out or parting with their good qualities after the lid is opened and during the time the cigars are being dispensed from the box. In addition to these qualities the box is free from the objections common to all the boxes made of wood or material other than cedar and which have rendered impracticable the use by the cigar trade of any such substitute as paper boxes or all metal boxes or boxes of material other than cedar-wood in that the contents are always in contact with or surrounded by the porous absorbent surfaces of cedar-wood, and in ad dition thereto the box is impervious to the atmosphere to which it may be exposed.

Having thus fully described myinvention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. As a new article of manufacture, a cigarbox consisting of an interior lining of wood having a rabbet around the outer face of its upper edge, and an exterior body of sheet metal entirely covering the lining and turned over its upper edge, the metal being forced into the rabbet of the lining; combined with a lid also consisting of a wooden lining and a sheet-metal exterior having flanges turned over the edges of the lining and projecting beyond its inner face so as to engage the double rabbet when the lid is closed, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a cigarbox consisting of an interior lining or facing of Wood, and an exterior body of sheet metal covering the same and having a rabbet around the upperedge of the box on its exterior; combined with a lid also consisting of a wooden lining or facing and a sheet-metal exterior attached thereto and having peripheral flanges projecting below the inner face of the lining so as to enter said rabbet when the lid is closed, and a metal strip leading from the lidcovering over the wooden lid-facing throughout the length of its free edge and turned into contact with its inner face, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. Asanewarticle of manufacture,the herein-described cigar-box comprising a body and a lid each consisting of an interior facing of wood and a complete exterior covering of sheet metal, the covering on thelid being bent over the edges of the facing into a flange adapted to embrace the body of the box when the lid is closed, and metal strips connected with the lid-covering and turning over and extending entirely along the edges of the lidfacing, substantially as described.

t. As a new article of manufacture, thehercin-described'cigar-box comprising a body and a lid each consisting of an interior facing of wood and a complete exterior covering of sheet metal, means for sealing the lid in closed position, and metal strips f attached to the metal lid-covering and extending entirely along and turned over the edges of the wooden lid-facing into contact with the inner face thereof, substantially as described.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a cigarbox consisting of an interior lining of wood having a rabbet around the outer face of its upper edge, and an exterior body of sheet metal forced into the rabbet of the lining; combined with a lid also consisting of a wooden lining and a sheet-metal exterior having flanges turned over the edges of the lining and projecting beyond its inner face so as to engage the double rabbet when the lid is closed, and a sealing ribbon or strip covering the joint between said flange and the metal body portion beneath its rabbet, as and for the purpose set forth.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a cigarbox consisting of an interior lining of wood having a rabbet around its outer face of its upper edge, and an exterior body of sheet metal entirely covering the lining and turned over its upper edge, the metal being forced into the rabbet of the lining; combined with a lid also consisting of a wooden lining and a sheet-metal exterior having flanges turned over the edges of the lining and projecting beyond its inner face so as to engage the double rabbet when the lid is closed, and metal strips connected with the lid flanges and turned into contact with the inner face of the lid-facingso as to contact with the turnedover portion of the metal body when the lid is closed, as and for the purpose set forth.

7. As a new article of manufacture, a cigarbox consisting of an interior lining of Wood having a rabbet around its outer face of its upper edge, and an exterior body of sheet metal entirely covering the lining and turned over its upper edge, the metal being forced into the rabbet of the lining; combined with a lid also consisting of a wooden lining and a sheet-metal exterior having flanges turned over the edges of the lining and projecting beyond its inner face so as to engage the double rabbet when the lid is closed, metal strips MARKS BLASKOWER. [L. s]

Witnesses:

E. H. THARP, EDWARD E. OSBORN, 

